Toy vehicles combined with plural tracks and loading and unloading means



Sept. 16, 1969 A. EINFALT 3,466,791

TOY VEHICLES COMBINED WITH PLURAL TRACKS AND LOADING AND UNLOADING MEANS Filed Aug. 5, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 9 I n "lml I 2 30 l 3 7 g I w v 1 8 30 l 7 18 i 19 49" 0 I III! I ll I H 16 4a 21 z I I 31 15 M 9 25 NW 'J' I I IHI l Fig.2

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Sept. 16, 1969 A. EINFALT 3,466,791

TOY VEHICLES COMBINED WITH PLURAL TRACKS AND LOADING AND UNLOADING MEANS Filed Aug. 5, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet IN V EMT on.

TTOI-NEYS United States Patent 3,466,791 TOY VEHICLES COMBINED WITH PLURAL TRACKS AND LOADING AND UNLOADING MEANS Alfred Einfalt, Nuremberg, Germany, assignor to Gehruder Einfalt Blechspielwarenfabrik, Nuremberg, Germany, a firm of Germany Filed Aug. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 658,165 Claims priority, application Germany, Feb. 8, 1967,

Int. Cl. A63h 33/30 U.S. CI. 46-40 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy vehicle track set comprising two different tracks for toy vehicles having driving pins projecting from their undersides and engaging rotating coil springs set into the tracks. Carrier vehicles are carried by one track which extends between a loading and an unloading station. Transportable vehicles which can be loaded onto the carrier vehicles are carried by the other track which extends between an access ramp and an exit ramp associated respectively with the loading and unloading stations.

The invention relates to a toy vehicle track set comprising two different tracks for toy vehicles driven by rotating coil springs set into the tracks and engageable by driving pins projecting from the vehicle undersides. The coil springs are rotated by appropriate drive means, such as a miniature electric motor.

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a toy vehicle track which has attractive possibilities for play.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy vehicle track set comprising two difierent tracks for toy vehicles driven by rotating coil springs set into the tracks and engaged by driving pins projecting from the Vehicle undersides, carrier vehicles and transportable vehicles that can be loaded onto the carrier vehicles at a loading station associated with an access ramp and unloaded from the carrier vehicles at an unloading station associated with an exit ramp.

Preferably the loading station is at one end and the unloading station at the other end of one of the tracks which track is adapted to carry the carrier vehicles, and the other track is adapted to carry the transportable vehicles and runs at one end onto the access ramp of the loading station and at the other end onto the exit ramp of the unloading station.

For conveniently loading and unloading the transportable vehicles, the access ramp terminates at the end of the carrier vehicles in the loading station whereas the exit ramp terminates at the side of the carrier vehicles in the unloading station flush with the loading platform of the carrier vehicles.

According to a feature of the invention the ramps slope downwards in the direction of travel of the transportable vehicles so that the latter will roll down the ramps by gravity alone without being driven.

In order to permit the vehicles to roll down the ramps without being obstructed the ramps are provided with slots for accommodating the driving pins of the vehicles.

For controlling the loading and unloading operations each ramp is provided with a catch for intercepting the transportable vehicles.

Each catch may comprise a manually tiltable lever having two relatively spaced projections which are alternately tiltable into the slot in that ramp for intercepting the driving pins of the transportable vehicles. The purpose "ice of the provision of two alternately acting projections is that whenever the catch is operated to release a vehicle, even if the catch is actuated for a prolonged time, only one vehicle Will be released at a time, since the second projection will always retain the next vehicle.

Preferably the distance between the tWo projections is roughly equal to the length of the transportable vehicles. This ensures that the second vehicle will not start moving until the catch has been returned into its original position.

According to another feature of the invention the loading platform of each carrier vehicle is provided with a slot for accommodating the driving pins and with tracks for guiding the wheels of the transportable vehicles.

For cooperation with the exit ramp the tracks of the loading platform curve to the side of the carrier vehicles near the leading end of the carrier vehicles to register with the end of the exit ramp, whereas the rear ends of those tracks which cooperate with the access ramp are outwardly flared.

In order to prevent the vehicles that have been loaded onto the carrier vehicles from rolling off when the carrier vehicles run up or down a gradient, a catch may be provided at the leading end and at the rear end of the hacks on the carrier vehicles.

Preferably each catch has the form of a tiltable cranked lever mounted on a wheel axle of the carrier vehicle and has a vertical lever arm arranged to project into the slot in the vehicle platform, the horizontal lever arm being raisable to withdraw the vertical arm from the slot to efiect release of a transportable vehicle.

Conveniently the rear catch is releasable by an abutment which projects into the path of the catch when the rear carrier vehicle is backed against the access ramp, the front end catch being manually releasable at the unloading station.

The abutment at the loading station end of the track may be an inclined surface which cooperates with the hori zontal arm of the catch.

For releasing the front end catch, a lever is provided which can be manually tilted about an axis parallel to the track, and which has an extension projecting through an opening in the track.

Finally it is envisaged that the transportable vehicles which can be loaded on and unloaded from the carrier vehicles are toy motor cars, whereas the carrier vehicles are toy railway platform wagons coupled to a traction vehicle.

An embodiment of this invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy vehicle track set;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the set according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line IIIIII in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the unloading station and of the vehicles at the unloading station,

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line VIVl in FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line VII-VII in FIG. 5, and

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 2.

The base plate 1 of the track set carries imitations 2, 3 and 4 of a plateau, a hill, and an embankment respectively. These imitations 2, 3 and 4 are integral with the base plate 1 and may be formed by vacuum deep drawing. Obviously the set might be made of some alternative material, such as sheet metal.

The set comprises a track 5 for carrier vehicles 6 and a separate track 7 for transportable vehicles that can be loaded on and unloaded from the carrier vehicles 8. The vehicles 6 and 8 can be propelled along their respective tracks 5 and 7 by rotatable coil springs 9 and 9 respectively set into the tracks. For this purpose driving pins 10 which project from the underside of the vehicles 6 and 8 engage the coil springs 9 and 9' respectively between adjacent turns in known manner.

The coil springs 9 and 9' are rotated by suitable drive means, such as a miniature electric motor disposed, together with a source of power, such as a battery set and a suitable gearing, in a housing 11. The arrangement is such that a lever 12 permits the motor which operates the coil springs 9 and 9' of the tracks 5 and 7 to be started and stopped, whereas levers 13 and 14 permit the drive to be selectively applied to one or both of the springs 9 and 9' of the two tracks. The spring 9 associated with the track 5 for the carrier vehicles 6 can be rotated for forward or reverse propulsion or stopped, whereas spring 9 associated with the track 7 for the vehicles 8 that can be loaded on and unloaded from the carrier vehicles can be operated in only one direction of propulsion.

The track 5 for the carrier vehicles 6 leads from an unloading station 15 down a gentle gradient around the perimeter of the base plate 1 to a loading station 16 on the opposite side of the base plate 1. The second track 7 leads from an exit ramp 17 adjoining the unloading station 15 and rises in a curve over the high plateau 2 along hill 3 to a bridge 18 which adjoins an access ramp 19 on the embankment 4 to the loading station 16. The ramps 17 and 19 have a gentle downward gradient in the direction of travel of the vehicles 8 which therefore roll down these ramps without special propulsion. For guiding the vehicles 8 their tracks 20 are slightly sunk into the ramps. A slot 21 serves to accommodate the driving pin 10.

The surface of the tracks 5 and 7 may be formed by inserted metal strips 22. However, the surface of the base material itself would also make a suitable track, provided it were suitably shaped. Roughly halfway along the length of track 5 for the carrier vehicles 6 is a tunnel 23.

Near the end of each of the two ramps 17, 19 are vehicles intercepting catches 24 and 25 controlled by levers 26 and 27 respectively. The catches 24 and 25 consist of manually operable tilting levers 28 each with two relatively spaced projections 29 which are adapted to be raised alternately into the slot 21 in the track 20 on the ramps 17 and 19 for intercepting the driving pins 10 of the vehicles 8.

The vehicles which can be loaded on and unloaded from the carrier vehicles are toy motor cars, whereas the carrier vehicles 6 have the form of railway platform wagons 30, 30' and 30" adapted to be pulled or pushed by an imitation locomotive 31. The loading platforms 32 of the railway wagons are roughly flush with the ends of the ramps 17 and 19 and, in the same way as the ramps, they are formed with a slot 33 for the reception of the driving pins 10 and with tracks 34 for the wheels 35 of the toy motor cars 8. The railway wagons 30, 30" and 30" are interconnected and coupled to the locomotive 31 by coupling strips 36.

In order to prevent the motor cars 8 from rolling off the railway Wagons 30, 30' and 30-" when these I travel up or down the sloping track 5, the front end of the leading wagon 30 and the rear end of the last wagon 30" are provided with catches 37 and 38 respectively. Each of these catches 37 and 38 comprises a cranked lever mounted on and tiltable about a wheel axle 39, the vertical end 40 of each lever in normal position projecting into the slot 33 in the loading platform 32 of the railway wagon. The catch releases when the horizontal lever arm 41 of the cranked lever is raised since this causes the vertical end 40 to be lowered to clear the slot 33 for the pin 10.

The entire railway train and car set is operated as follows:

The railway train 30, 30', 30" and 31 which, it will be assumed, is carrying motor cars 8, enters the un- 1 loading station 15 where the front wheel axle 42 of the locomotive is intercepted by a stop 43. At the same time the rear wheel 44 of the locomotive 31 rides onto a hump 45 which causes its driving pin 10 to be lifted out of engagement with the coil spring 9.

The first wagon 30 of the train is now in a position in which the curved end 46 of the tracks 34 for the motor vehicles 8 registers exactly with the end 47 of the exit ramp 17. At the unloading station 15 the track 5 slopes slightly downwards towards the locomtive 31 so that the vehicles 8 on the platforms of the wagons are urged by gravity to roll off the forward end of the wagon 30. However, they canot do this because they are retained by the catch 37. For releasing the catch 37 a lever 48 (FIGS. 6 and 7) must be tilted by the manual operation of its handle 49 to cause its stem 50 to engage and so raise the horizontal arm 41 of the cranked lever 37 and to withdraw thereby the vertical arm 40 downwards out of the slot 33. The motor cars 8 will then at once roll onto the exit ramp 17 until the first driving pin 10 is intercepted by the projection 29 of the catch 24.

Operation of this catch 24 permits one motor car at a time to be released into that part of the track 7 which is equipped with the coil spring 9'. When lever 28 is tilted by the handle 26, the second projection 29 in the direction of travel is deflected downwards out of the slot 21 and at the same time, the first projection 29 is lifted into the slot 21. This arrangement prevents more than one motor car from leaving the ramp 17 at the same time. The same also applies to the catch 25 provided in the access ramp 19.

The coil spring 9' now propels the motor cars 8 along the track 7 in the direction of arrow 51 until the vehicles reach the access ramp 19, where they are intercepted by the catch 25.

Whilst the motor cars 8 run from the exit ramp 17 to the access ramp 19, the railway train 30, 30', 30" and 31 is driven by the coil spring 9 from the unloading station 15 to the loading station 16. This latter station is so contrived that the end of the last wagon of the train backs against the loading ramp 19. In order to assist the motor cars 8 in running onto the wagon 30" even when this does not exactly align with the end of the access ramp 19, the rear ends 52 of the tracks 34 on the loading platform 32 of the wagons are slightly flared.

Before the motor cars 8 can run onto the loading platforms 32 of the wagons the rear catch 38 must first be withdrawn. For this purpose the end of the track 5 in the loading station 16 is provided with an abutment in the form of a sloping section 53. This section cooperates with the horizontal arm 41 of the cranked lever 38 and thereby withdraws the vertical arm 40 of the lever from the slot 33 in the loading platform 32 of the Wagon 30'.

The final portion of the track 5 for the train 30, 30', 30" and 31 in the loading station 15 contains no coil spring since only the wagons 30, 30' and 30" which are not driven are backed onto this portion of the track.

The track 5 in the loading station 16 is slightly inclined towards the locomotive 31 in the same way as in the unloading station 15 in order to prevent the motor cars 8 from rolling backwards.

When the wagons 30 have been backed up against the access ramp 19, the loading of the motor cars 8 can commence. For this purpose the catch 25 is manually released by means of the handle 27, thus permitting the motor cars 8 to roll onto the platforms 32 of the wagons one by one.

When the loading operation has been completed the direction of rotation of the coil spring 9 is reversed and the train 30, 30, 30" and 31 will therefore begin its return journey to the unloading station 15. After having arrived at the unloading station 15 the described cycle may be repeated.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy vehicle track set comprising a base having first and second tracks for toy vehicles, first and second rotatable coil springs set into said first and second tracks respectively, a plurality of carrier vehicles having loading platforms, and a plurality of transportable vehicles which can be loaded onto the carrier vehicles, the vehicles having riving pins projecting from under-sides which engage the coil springs, the base being formed with a loading station at which the transportable vehicles can be loaded onto the carrier vehicles, with an access ramp associated with the loading station, with an unloading station at which the transportable vehicles can be unloaded from the carrier vehicles, and with an exit ramp assoicated with the unloading station, said access ramp terminating at a position which registers with the end of the carrier vehicles when in the loading station and said exit ramp terminating at the side of the carrier vehicles in the unloading station flush with the loading platform of the carrier vehicles when in the unloading station.

2. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loading station is at one end and the unloading station at the other end of the first track which carries the carrier vehicles, and wherein the second track is arranged to carry the transportable vehicles and extends at one end onto the access ramp of the loading station and at the other end onto the exit ramp of the unloading station.

3. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ramps slope downwards in the direction of travel of the transportable vehicles so that the transportable vehicles will roll down the ramps by gravity without being driven.

4. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 3, wherein said ramps are formed with slots for accommodating the driving pins of the vehicles.

5. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 1 which comprises first and second catches respectively disposed in said ramps for intercepting the transportable vehicles.

6. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 5, wherein each catch comprises a manually tiltable lever having two relatively spaced projections which are alternately tiltable into a slot in the associated ramp for intercepting the driving pins of the transporable vehicles.

7. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 6, wherein the distance between the two projections is approximately equal to the length of the transportable vehicles.

8. A toy vehicle tIack set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loading platform of each carrier vehicle is formed with a slot for accommodating the driving pins of the transportable vehicles and with tracks for guiding the Wheels of than transportable vehicles.

9. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 8, wherein the tracks of the loading platformcurve to the side of the carrier vehicles near the leading end of the carrier vehicles to register with the end of the exit ramp, and wherein the ends of the tracks on the carrier vehicles cooperate with the access ramp and are outwardly flared.

10. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 8, which comprises two catches positioned respectively at the leading end and at the rear end of the tracks on the carrier vehicles for locating the transportable vehicles on the loading platforms of the carrier vehicles.

11. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of said catches comprises a tiltable cranked lever mounted on a wheel axle of the carrier vehicle and having a vertical and a horizontal lever arm, the vertical lever arm being arranged to project into the slot in the loading platform, the horizontal lever arm being raisable to withdraw the vertical arm from the slot to ettect release of a transportable vehicle.

12. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 11 which comprises an abutment on said base which projects into the path of the catch at the rear end of the tracks on the carrier vehicles when the rear carrier vehicle is backed against the access ramp and which then releases that catch, the catch at the front end of the tracks on the carrier vehicles being manually releasable at the unloading station.

13. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 12, wherein the abutment at the loading station end of the track is an inclined surface which cooperates with the said horizontal lever arm of the catch at the rear end of the tracks on the carrier vehicles.

14. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 12, which includes means for releasing said catch at the leading end of the tracks on the carrier vehicles, said means comprising a lever which is manually tiltable about an axis parallel to the track and which has an extension projecting through an opening in the track.

15. A toy vehicle track set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transportable vehicles which can be loaded on and unloaded from the carrier vehicles are toy motor cars, wherein the carrier vehicles are toy railway platform wagons and which comprises a simulated traction vehicle to Which the railway platform wagons are coupled.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,052,059 9/1962 Einfalt 46-216 X 3,067,540 12/1962 Smith et 'al. 46-40 3,335,520 8/1967 Yeager 46202 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,137,663 10/ 1962 Germany. 663,572 5/1963 Canada.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner H. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner U.S. CL X.R. 

